Belarus is actively adopting Chinese technologies across various sectors, including agriculture. Ambassador of Belarus to China Alexander Chervyakov spoke about this in an interview with Belarusian television.
“China is moving into the category of leaders in agricultural technology. This area receives significant attention in China. In pig production, China is now achieving very high results in both productivity and preservation, primarily due to cutting-edge technologies. When today a robot replaces a veterinarian in China, that says a lot. The atmosphere inside the facility is comparable to the sterility of a hospital ward — that says a lot. A three-level water purification system — that too says a lot. So, that’s just one area, pig farming.
If we look at other sectors, it’s the same — unmanned agricultural machinery. One of the projects we are implementing today together with a Chinese company and the Minsk Tractor Works involves a tractor that determines its own direction, route, and movement without human participation. In essence, a tractor operator can sit at home with a control console, monitor the process on a computer, and operate a tractor remotely if needed. It’s an entirely different level.
Or take vegetable farming. As children, we read books about trees bearing tomatoes or potatoes instead of apples. We saw this with our own eyes at a Chinese exhibition. That was the cluster from which we invited Chinese companies that are now bringing these new technologies to Belarus — truly modern technologies,” he said.
The ambassador also praised the robotization of Chinese industry.
“The scale of robot deployment in manufacturing is striking. Unmanned factories, robots, high labor productivity. And when speaking with managers of these enterprises who have implemented these technologies, and asking, ‘what happens to the people,’ they say, ‘we retrain them and teach them new technologies.’ More people are being involved in project and research work. The speed of introducing new ideas is impressive,” he added.
According to him, China has created an innovation infrastructure that enables rapid transformation of ideas into concrete commercial products. The ambassador believes this approach deserves careful study.
“There are models we can apply. But China is a unique country with its own mentality and approaches to production and implementation. They differ greatly. To take that model and fully replicate it in our country, of course, is impossible. But some core elements can be adapted,” he said.
Chervyakov also said that more than 1,200 Belarusian students are currently studying in China, while 12,000 Chinese students are studying in Belarus.
At the same time, Belarusian exports to China are growing.
“Just this year, we opened 10 new enterprises that will supply products from the Republic of Belarus to the Chinese market, including those related to grain processing — wheat and barley flakes, cereals, baby food, gluten, and various confectionery products. Special attention must be paid to packaging because success in the Chinese market depends heavily on packaging and marketing. What you see with your eyes — beautiful packaging — accounts for 70% of success.
We are selling dairy products quite well. The market here is volatile — it must be noted. Competition for this market is fierce. We must prepare to sell actively through online platforms. We are currently working on this direction. For successful implementation, warehouses in China must be stocked, and products must always be available, since delivery time should not exceed two days, and ideally two hours within cities. Having the product locally is the key to success if we want to operate effectively on e-commerce platforms. This is one of the key areas for developing trade in China,” he added.